Conveyer system



Dec. 11, 1945. N. B. GRIFFIN ETAL 2,390,935

CONVEYER SYSTEM 2 sheets-shea 1 Filed 'May 14, 1941 Dec. 11, 1945. N. B.GRIFFIN Erm` 2,390,935

coNvE'YER SYSTEM l Filed May 14. 1941 2 sheets-Sheet 2 1N ENTORLi`Patented Dec. 1l, 1945 CONVEYER SYSTEM Norval B. Griffin and Claude H.Brechner, Portsmouth, Ohio, assignors to The Selby Shoe Company,Portsmouth, Ohio, a corporation of Ohio Application May 14, 1941, SerialNo. 393,423

1 Claim.

This invention relates to a system of handling pieces or parts duringmanufacturing operations and is particularly concerned with a system ofassembling the various parts of articles of the same generic type but ofdifferent detailed construction where it is desired that all of thearticles be assembled at the same time by the same group of persons. i

The invention will be disclosed'in connection with a conveyer system forassembling the uppers of womens shoes of different types, sizes, andstyles. However, its utility is not limited to this exact field andthere are doubtless other manufacturing problems in which the inventionwill be of equal utility.

The invention is not concerned with the detailsA of the mechanic-alstructures involved in its practice but rather in the system as the samewill be hereinafter described.v However, some disclosure will be made ofmechanical expedients useful in the practice of the invention in orderto better explain the operation of the system.

In the tting room of a large womens shoe factory, there is thecontinuous problem of assembling simultaneously a large number ofdifferent types and styles of shoes. Since shoe styles" It ispractically impossiy Practically all of the fitting or assembling ofuppers is done in a series of individual operations by hand labor orunit machine labor; that is, by the use of a machine such as a sewingmachine for a single operation. In the case of a large manufacturer, itis not possible to keep one group of workers continuously busy in theassembly of one particular style of shoe as there are usually too manystyles for this to be a practical procedure. Resultantly, it is commonmanufacturing practice for a single group of workers to work on a numberof diierent styles at the same time. As this method operates,practically, each worker has a particular set task which he or sheperforms continuously. For example, this may be a cementing operation,formation of an eyelet, a marking or inking operation, or some otherconventional step in therassembly of a shoe upper. As each workerfinishes a certain number of pieces, he passes them on to the personVwho is to perform the next operation. Since the group is working on anumber of different styles, and since the course of assembly of variousstyles may be, and usually is, entirely different, one worker does notalways pass his completed pieces to the same succeeding worker. In theassembly of some styles, the worker may pass his pieces to a personsitting next to him, while in the as-` sembly of other styles, it may benecessary for him to pass his pieces to someone all the Way across thefitting room.

As a result, it has been a difcult problem to arrange the workers in atting room so that there will be a minimum of time spent in passing thepieces completed by one worker to the next Worker. As an illustration ofthe extent of this problem, it has been estimated that ten percent ofall of the workers in a tting room are at all times engaged in standingon their feet and passing completed pieces from one to the other ratherthan in sitting at their desks performing their particular operation.

The need for some sort of conveyer system to meet a condition of thissort is obvious, but the problem of providing one hasV not been easy ofsolution. The major difficulty occurs because for practical reasons itis impossible to synchronize the course of operations so that thecompleted pieces will go in one direction only and so that they can beconveyed by a conventional conveyer belt. To illustrate this, assuming agroup of 38 or more workers of the type which will be hereinafter morefully described in connection with the drawings, and assuming eachworker represents a particular numbered operation, the course ofassembly of one particular upper is as follows: 2, 3, 4, 5, 13, 18, 8,12, 19, 1'7, 21, 22, 26, 27, 24, 28, 29, 30, 36, 33, 34, 35, 29, 30, 31,37, 38, while the course of another representative upper is as follows:1, 3, 4, 6, 19, 11, 10, 8, 12, 28, 11, 8, 12, 13, 18, 8, 19, 17, 23, 24,25, 26, 28, 31, 36, 37, 38.

It will be noted from this that in order to provide an eiective conveyersystem, it is necessary to have means for transporting the nished piecesin either direction. For example, inthe rst illustration, it isnecessary for operator 13 to have at his command means for transportinghis finished pieces to operator 18, and it is necessary for operator 18to have lat his command means for transporting his finished pieces backto yoperator 8.y

With the solution of this and other problems relating to conveyersystems of this type in mind, one object .of the present invention hasbeen to provide a conveyer system in which the completed pieces may betransported mechanically to the operator next required to work on themregardless of the positioning f this operator with reference to thefirst operator.

Another object of the invention has been to provide a system ofconveying pieces in which all of the available working space adjacentthe conveyingA instrumentality may be utilized without creating anyproblem of ingress or egress oi the Workers.

Another object has been to provide a conveyer system particularly usefulin a manufacturing operation where it is necessary for a group of peopleto work simultaneously on a large number of articles of the same generalnature` but of different detailed construction.

Another object has been to provide a conveyer system in which thearticles may be placed on and removed from the conveyer with a minimumof eort and inconvenience.

Other and further objects and advantages will be apparent from theconsideration of a further and more detailed description of theinvention when considered in conjunctionv with the drawings in which:

Figure 1 is a diagrammatic plan view of a typical conveyer systemrepresentative of the invention.

Figure 2 is a perspective view somewhat diagrammatic of the generalarrangement of the conveyer belts.

In Figure 1 thepreparation table is indicated at a, the upper belil atb, the lower belt at c and the belt turns at d. Each of the operators isassigned a number in sequence although it will be noted that there arevarious duplications of the numbers where the same operation isperformed by more than one person.

Beginning the operation of the system, assemblies are prepared' of allof the pieces necessary for the construction of a particular upper. Thisis done at the preparation table a by one or more workers skilled inthis particular duty. At this table also, a slip or chart is prepareditemizing the sequence of operations in the formation of the particularupper. This slip may be included in a box oiother container along withthe pieces, A typical slip is herewith reproduced, the sequence ofoperations being the same as that referred to in the previous exampleiirst given.

No. Operation No. Operation 2 Mach Mark (vp for qr d;Y 26 Eyelet Stay d:Tack Mark tack,v 4M.- (di-ill stay) 38o 2 pcs at (tack mark) a time) 2TCement Tong to Ling (vp for tip, 24 Lay Linings iM-381 2 28 Top Steh.(tong, trim all p cs at a around) time) (qr, wad at bk. 3 Ink (tip-lineof tip) t r i m a ll 4 Iron` (Blu. points) around) 5 Bruce (Tuista toqr) (trim after top- (cut-to-dt) steli (tip-ling to tip) 29 Cement forDie out (qr) 13 Close (vp, l row, matched 30 X" Dept-Die. out qr cutseams) out, Model K, liF-525 (backseam, l row) 36 yelct 18 Tape seaml(vp) 33 Sort (vps) (backseain) (qrs) 8 Fit Trim (beveled vp 34 Vamp (lrow to within 34 seam atv lower end: of nose,` holding ling cement tipto vp) back) 12 Flat Fcy Steh (tip to vp & 35 Side Scam steh 2nd row ontip) 29 Cement for Die out (inc. 19 Cement (vp, hand) box toe) (qr,mach. or 30 X Dept-Dic out vp` hand) cutout, Model K 17 Fold (vp, Glass)Aiii-526 (qt, Glass) 31 Post Steh (Finish vampg 2l Fx' Bnd & tack &Imton vp & 22 Fr Fold (inc. nicking) qi' &cutouts) 37 Ensign Lace 38FinalSoi-t (inc. equalize) gress or egress to their work benches.

The box containing the slip is first delivered manually to the operatoriirst required to work on this particular upper, which in this case isoperator 2, who performs a machine marking operation. When operator` 2has performed his particular operation it is necessary that the box bepassed to operator 3 for an inking operation.H Since operator 3 isfarther along to the right than operator '2, the box is then placed onthe upper belt b which moves continuously in that direction. Uponreaching operator 3 it is removed, the inking operation is performed andthe box is then replaced on the, belt to pass in sequence to operators4, 5, 13 and 18. After operator 18 has iinished his tape seamingoperation the slip or chart calls for a return of the box to operator 8.Since operator 8 is to the left of operator 18 the box is placed on thelower belt c which moves in that direction. In this way the box passesthrough the complete sequence of the indicated operations until it nallyreaches desk 38 for the nal sort and hand trim. From here it is placedon a truck and removed as a finished article.

The. belts utilized are conventional conveyer belts except that aparticular U-shaped arrangement is preferably employed which enables theoperators to position themselves at every available point Withoutcausing any problem of in- As indicated by the arrows, the upper belt,which is in eiect three separate belts, moves continuously from position1 to position 37. The lower belt which is similarly constructed movescontinuously from position 37 to position 1. As best indicated in Figure2, the two sections of each belt are joined together by a cross-overbelt e `which coordinates the operation of the different sec- -tions ofthe upper and lower belts. In the operation of the cross-over belt, theboxes proceed along one section of one of the belts, such as for examplethe right hand section of the upper belt, until they contact thesnubbers or belt turns d. The continuous movement of the upper beltpushes the box around this snubber until. it is nally taken up by thecross-over belt. The same operation is performed at the second snubberand in this Way the U-turn is completed. The belts may have stops ateither end to prevent the boxes destined for a terminal end from beingcarried olf onto the floor.

In the operation of; the system, it has been found highly advantageousto utilize a signal system of diiferent colored index tabs or Bags. Eachoperator may have a box containinga. complete set of these ilagsnumbered with the numbers of the operator to whom that operatordelivers: his pieces. When the rst operator nishes his operation he maythen select an index flag bearing the number of the operator expected toperform the next operation and place it conspicuously on the edge of thebox. This flag will of course bear the distinctive colorl of theparticulai` operator for whom the box is destined. It has been foundthat the operators maintain a sort of subconscious lookout for boxesjbearing ags of the color assigned to them and that in actual operationthere are very few occasions when the box passes the operator for whomit is intended. It is not essential that there be a. different color foreach, operator and a series` of six orl seven colors used in rotationworks satisfactorily as the iiags are additionally identied by number.

The operators may utilize work benches of similarl construction althoughinV some instancesparticular equipment will be required for certainoperations. The belts should be positioned at the most convenient heightconsistent with the benches used and it has been found that it is quiteadvantageous to have the lower belt about the knee height, and the upperbelt about the eye height of a seated operator.

In the operation of the system it is possible for a group of the sizeindicated in Figure 1 to work on as many as sixty different styles ofuppers simultaneously Without the occasion arising for an operator toleave his work bench to pass the Work to another operator. Since inthese sixtystyles each style will follow a different sequence of steps,the result of the use of the system is to greatly facilitate thetransfer of the pieces and to greatly improve the general eilciency ofthe assembly operation.

Having fully described our invention We desire to be limited only by.the ensuing claim.

We claim:

The process of manufacturing shoe uppers, comprising the steps of;preparing and collecting the parts making up the uppers; delivering theassembled parts to the first operator indicated on a work sheetinitially assembled with the collected parts; indicating by meansapplied to the collected parts the next station to which they are to bedespatched; and finally shuttling the collected parts back and forthbetween stations, as indicated on the Work sheet, by means of conveyerbelts travelling in a U path and including reverse runs for delivery ofthe parts in either direction.

NORVAL B.' GRIFFIN. CLAUDE H. BRECHNER.

